KUCHING: A third child who was infected with rabies died yesterday afternoon at about 2.16 pm.
Alicesa Lorenna anak Nody aged 7 from Kampung Lebur, Serian was warded on 23 June due to high fever in Serian Hospital. She was later transferred to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) five days later. She was suspected to be suffering from viral encephalitis and placed in the intensive care unit.
On 4 July recently, two siblings Monica aged six and four-year-old Jackson Mazlan from Kampung Paon, Sg Rimu had their life support switched off after they were declared brain dead. The older sibling, a girl aged six, died at 1.43pm while her younger brother died three minutes later. All the three kids had been bitten by dogs two months ago.
According to the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) website, there were four (4) confirmed cases of rabies in Serian, Sarawak where three (3) cases had died and another case is the fourth case that is being treated in the PICU ward of Sarawak General Hospital and is in a critical condition. No new rabies case has been reported.
Active Case Detection (ACD) for dog bites has been implemented in the area of rabies epidemic in Serian by the Serian Health Office with the Sarawak State Health Department (JKN). ACD activities were conducted in 96 settlements involving 5,663 homes and 21,978 residents interviewed for the history of dog bites. A total of 225 cases of dog bites were detected in the Serian District epidemic area and were given treatment. Health education related to rabies has also been given to villagers.
The MOH wishes to advise the public in Serian District to take the following preventive measures to prevent the spread of rabies:
They are told to get immediate treatment at a nearby health clinic or hospital if they have been bitten by a dog bite (dog or dogs).
They need to make sure the pet dog has an anti-rabies injection at the nearest animal clinic and avoid contact with the stray dogs.
If a pet dog is found unwell or behaving aggressively, the owners must seek immediate treatment at the animal clinic and report it to the nearby Veterinary Service Department Office;
Public members were told to report to local authorities if there are stray dogs roaming around the area; And always maintain a high level of personal hygiene such as frequent hand washing by using water and soap after contact with pet dogs or stray dogs.
MOH and JKN Sarawak will continue to work with the State Government and the Veterinary Services Department as well as other relevant agencies to ensure that the rabies virus infection among human beings can be controlled and no transmission occurs.
